Ironing machine



June 7, 1938.

s. W. WAR DV V'ELL,"JR morgue mourns Filed Sept; 30, 1934 0 Fig}.

George W. Waydwell, Jr:,

W flwwwiw His Attorne g.

' s. w. WARDWELL. JR

June 7, 1938.

I IR Q NING MACHINE Filed Sept. 20, 1954 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 1 l'nven'torq George W. WaPdWeILJYT,

l-l l5 Attorney PatentedJune7,1938,

Q I-believe to be novel and my-invention. attention is directed to the following specification and the 35 held in place over the upper wallof the buck 1 by a pad cover a. Thebuck is 'slidably support-" sion between the buck and the base by the pin] UNI-TED STATES ENT em momma MACHINE George W. Wardwcll, Jr.,- Nichols, Conn., assignor to General Electric Company, a corporation oi .New York Application September 20, 1934, SerialNo. 7445792 8 Claims.

My invention relates to ironing,machines of the'type in which ironingis effected by the pressure between pressing members.

In ironing machinesof this type, it is ens-- 5 tomar'y to bias the pressing members away from the engaged orpressing position.

' An object of my invention is to provide an ironingmachine of this type with an improved.

1 arrangement for preventing.sudden disengaging movement of the pressing members from the pressing-position.- For aconsideration of what claims, appended thereto. In the accompanying drawings, tional end elevation of an ironing machine em-' bodying my invention, with the shoe in the raised position; Fig. 2 is asectional end elevation showing the shoe in the pressing position; Fig. 3 is-a 2 .sectional front elevation of the ironing machine; Fig. 4 is an enlarged sectional viewof one end of the operating shaft; Fig. 5 Ba sectional. view taken on line 5 5 of'Fig. 4; and Fig. 6 is a sec-' tionalview taken on hne 66 of Fig. 4. L

- Referring to the drawings, I indicates a buck perforations} therein which provides the upper.

.wall ofthe buck. A pad 5 of textile material edv on a base 6 havinga cylindrical depression I therein, within which'a-complementary projection" 8 of thebuckis adapted to slide. The base and the buck are connected by a pin 9, one end of which is threaded into the buck, and the shank of which isslidable in the base' 6 in a guide I0.

A 'coil spring 1 I, arranged around the pin 9 be-' tween the buck andthe base, is held in compres- The; degree 10f compression of the'spring is adjusted by threading the pin 9 into or out of the buck. By. arranging the prestressed spring ll between the 'buckand the base, the maximum pres- .50 sure exerted on the buck can belimited. An'

apron 6a is formed at the rear of the base and provides a spacefor receiving clothes. g

During ironing; the moisture in the material being ironed is vaporized andpasses through pad 5 d the perforations i into theinner part of' Fig. 1 is a sec-' 21 which is spring pressed into a complementary notch in the handle.

the buck where it is condensed and led through openings l2 into the cylindrical depression f of the base. Drain tubes l3'lead from the depression 1 of the base to pans 14, which are secured to the lower side ofthe base by studs [5,at either .5

end of the base. Rubber bushings l6 are clamped between the lower end of the studs l5 and provide cushion supports for the base. A notch Ila ,is provided inthe rear wall of each of the pans through which the water accumulated in the pans may be emptied by tilting the machine.

The shoei is made of metal such as aluminum and heated by heating units II which are cast intoribs on the top of .the shoe in order to secure good heat conduction. The temperature of the 15 shoe is controlled bythermostats, the adjusting.

.knobs l8 of which are shown in Fig.- 3. The shoe is supported on the upper arm of a uesh'aped carriage I9,'the lower arm of which slides under the buck. Thecarri'age is movable backward go.

with respect to thebuck to allow more robin for the operator to arrange material over the. buck. The frame of the carriage'is made of twoipieces Illa and l9b which are secured together. A shaft 20, carried by the carriage at the front end of the 25 lower arm has wheels 2| which travel on ledges 22 formedin the sides of the pans l4 and support the front end of the carriage during forward and backward movement. The lower arm of the carriage fitsbetween'arms 23, projecting from the 30.

pans I4, and rolls 24 j'ournaled in the arms23 engage the sides of the carriage and prevent .endwise displacement of the carriage during the slidingmovement. Projections 23a on the arms 23 engage ribs- 23b on the side of the carriage during the sliding movement and provide additional support forthe carriage. .-At the rear end of the carriage is a wheel 25 which travels on the table or other surface which supportstheironingmachine andsupports thenear endof the carriage. 'A' handle-26 is flxedtothe carriage IQ for the convenience of the operator. in shifting the carriage. Th'e'handleis held in place bya ball The mechanism for moving the shoe into'pressing engagement with the buck comprises a shaft 28 journaled in roller. bearings 29 in the upper arm of carriage 'l9.= The central portion of the shaft is cut away except for a portion 280. A pin 30 extends across the cut away portion of the shaft and carries a ball bearing 3|. The ball bearing 3| is eccentrically placed with respect to the .cen-

ter of the shaft 28 and the outer surface-of the race: of the ball bearing provides a cam which enr' gages a central transverse rib 32 on the shoe and moves the shoe into pressing engagement with the buck. When the shoe is in the engaged position as shown in Fig. 2, the cam is moved forward past the center line of the force exerted 'by the shoe so that the shoe tendisto remain in the engaged position. The portion 28a of the shaft provides a stop which limits the upward movement of the shoe as shown in Fig. 1. The cam is rotated by a lever 33 connected to a hub 33;; on the shaft 28. This lever is likewise held in position by a ball- 34 which is spring pressed into engagement with a notch 35 in the lever.

In order to equalize the pressure exerted by the shhe and to return theshoe to its raised position, independently movable levers or arms 36 are arranged at either side of the central rib 32;-

and connected to the intermediateportion of transverse springs 31. The ends of the transverse springs 31-are connected to projections 31a on the shoe. The levers 38 are pivoted on the support l9 at 38'and are urged upwardly by of the operating lever and shoe is prevented bysprings connected to the opposite ends of the levers. The vertical movement of the shoe is guided by .U-shaped guides 48 which are likewise thicker material over one portion of the buck than over another.

The springs 39 tend to move the shoe 2 to the raised position and, if the operating lever 33 were released after the upward movement was started, the upward movement might be too rapid and the operator might be injured by the sudden movement of the operating lever 33. In accordance with my invention, this sudden movement a speed responsive brake 42 arranged between the shaft 28 and the upper arm of the carriage l3 which is more clearly shown inFigs. 4 and 5. This brake comprises a stationary cylindrical surface 43 which is secured to the carriage l9 and a. surface 45 formed on the shaft 28 and in-.

clined toward the cylindrical surface 43. A ball 48 is arranged between the surfaces 43 and 45 and is normally held by gravity against a projection or stop 41 secured to the shaft 28 at the inclined surface 45. During engaging movement of the shoe, in which the lever 33 is rotated in a clockwise direction, as viewed in Figs. 2 and 5,. the stop 41 prevents wedging of the ball 46 between the surfaces 43 and 45 and the brake therefore permits the free engaging movement of the shoe. When the shoe is in the engaged position,

the position of the brake is indicated by a dotwd line in Fig. 5 and in this position a stop 48 secured During sudden disengaging movement of the lever 33, such as might occur if the lever were released by the operator after the disengaging movement was started, the rotating part of the brake accelerates faster than the hall 46 so that the ball 43 is not held against the stop 41 and the ball is wedged between the surfaces 43 and 45 retarding the disengaging movement. The. action of the brake thus prevents a sudden disengaging movement of the operating lever-which might injure the operator. v v

In the operation of theironing machine, the carriage l8 which supports a shoe is moved to the rear to expose the .upper surface'of the buck and permit the operator to arrange the material on the buck. The carriage' is then movedforward by pulling on handle 26 to place the shoe above the buck-in the position shownlin Fig. l.

The operating lever 33i's then rotated in a clock.-

wise direction as. viewedin Fig. 2jso that'the' cam 3i engages the rib 32 of theishoe andforces the shoe and the transverse springs 3I'perrnit tiltingof the shoe to equalize the pressureover the surfaces of the shoe. The arms 36 whichareiconnected to the springs 31 resist the engaging move ment of the shoe and tend toreturn theshoe and lever 33 to the disengaged position. ,JI'he total pressure between the shoe andzthebuclr is limited by the prestresse'd spring? arranged between the base and the'buck. Toreturnthe shoe to the position shown in Fig."-1, the -operating I lever 33 is rotated in a counter-clockwise direction elevating the cam 3|; and permitting the springs 39 to raise the shoe.. As explained above, the brake 42 freely permitsa slow disengaging movement of the operating lever33gbut prevents sudden disengaging movement ofthe lever What I claim as new and desire' -to secure by LettersPatent of the UhitedStateslis-z 1. An ironing press comprising apair'offpress ing members, means including a1=lever"for,eflecting engagement and separation cr am pressing members, means including a}-spring forreturning said lever to the disengaged position, ;a brake having a fixed member' andla'relativelyz rotatable member connected to said lever; said brake having a cylindrical surfaceon one of said members and a surface inclined to said cylindrical surface on the other of said members, a hall between said surfaces, and means for preventing wedging of said ball between said surfaces during engaging movement of said lever, said ball being subjected to a force tending to move it at a limited instantaneous speed relative'to said fixed member whereby it will become wedged between said surfaces upon disengaging movement of the lever at an instantaneous speed greater than said limited instantaneous speed.

2. An ironing press comprising a pair of pressing members, means including a lever for efiect ing engagement and separation of said pressing members, means including a spring for returning said lever to the disengaged position, a brake having a fixed member and a relatively rotatable member connected to said lever, said brake having a cylindrical surface on one of said members and a surface inclined to mid cylindrical surface on the other of said members, a ball between said surfaces, 3. projection on said inclined surface, and means for holding said ball against said projection during engagement movement of said lever, said ball being subjected to a force tending to move it at a limited instantaneous speed relative to said fixed member whereby it will become wedged between said surfaces upon disengaging movement of the lever at an instantaneous speed greater than said. limited instantaneous speed. 3. In an ironing press, a pair of pressing mem 2,119,719 bers, pressure applying mechanism including an ing means operatively associated with said lever for resisting the disengaging movement of the lever, said braking means being normally ineffective to resist movement of the lever and being rendered effective in response to a limited instantaneous speed of the lever whereby the speed of disengaging movement is retarded.

4. In an ironing press, a buck, a shoe, means including a lever for moving the shoe into pressing engagement with the buck, spring means ior returning the lever to the disengaged position, means for holding the pressing members in engagement in opposition to said spring means, said holding means being operatively-associated with said lever whereby it is rendered ineffective upon movement of the lever to effect disengagement of I the pressing members, and a brake operatively associated with said lever for resisting disengaging movement of the lever, said brake being normally ineffective to resist movement of the lever and being rendered effective in response to a limited instantaneous speed of the lever whereby the speed of disengaging movement is retarded.

5. In an ironing press, a buck,'a shoe, means including. a lever for moving the shoe into pressing engagement with the buck, spring means for returning the lever to the disengaged position, means for holding the pressing members in engagement in opposition to said spring means, said holding means being operatively associated with said lever whereby it is rendered ineffective upon movement of the lever to effect disengagement of the pressing members, and a brake operatively associated with said lever for resulting disengaging movement ofthe lever, said brake being normally ineffective to resist movement of the lever and being constructed and arranged to be rendered effective to resist disengaging movement of the lever in response to a predetermined acceieration of the lever whereby excessive speed of the disengaging movement of the lever is prevented.

6. In an ironing press, a pair of pressing meme bers, pressure developing mechanism for eflecting pressing engagement of the pressing members, spring means for eifecting separation of the pressing members, and braking means for resisting separation of the pressing members, said braking means being normally ineffective to resist separation of therpressing members and being rendered eifective in response to a limited instantaneous speed of separation of the pressing members.

'7. In an ironing press, a pair of pressing members, pressure developing mechanism for effecting pressing engagement and disengagement of the pressing members, an operator operatedlever for actuating said mechanism, biasing means for moving the lever tothe disengaged position, said mechanism including an over-center device operatively associated with said lever whereby said lever will be held in the position'eflecting engag'ement of said pressing members upon movement thereto and whereby said over-center device will be rendered ineffective upon movement of said lever therefrom, and braking means operatively associated with said lever for resisting sudden disengaging movement on the lever, said braking means being normally ineffective to resist movement of the lever and being constructed and arranged to be rendered effective to resist disengaging movement of the lever in response to a predetermined acceleration of the lever where by excessive speed of separation of the pressing members is prevented.

8. In an ironing press, a pair of pressing members, pressure developing mechanism for effecting pressing engagement of the pressing members, spring means for eflecting separation of the pressing members, and braking means for resist ing separation of the pressing members, said braking means comprising relatively movable friction surfaces operatively associated with said pressing members so as to be moved thereby relative to each other, and a friction member adapted to be moved into engagement with said surfaces upon relative movement of said surfaces, 

